7.15 million yuan "ugly" sculpture question: Where did the money go? What is the background of the company behind the construction?

Recently, the sculpture of "Cowherd and Weaver Girl" in Lushan County, Pingdingshan, Henan Province has become a local "scenery".

Starting from late August, this sculpture, which cost over 7 million yuan, has become a hot topic on social media and continues to ferment. Where did all this 7 million go? What is the background of the company behind sculpture construction? How will bloggers who have received a "threat email" due to publicly speaking out about this matter, which has previously received much attention, handle it?

Where is over 7 million spent?

The bidding announcement released by the Chinese Government Procurement Network shows that the urban sculpture project located at the intersection of Yingbin Avenue in Lushan County has won a bid amount of 7.152 million yuan, and the funding situation is "financial funds, confirmed".

According to the announcement, the project procurement mainly includes: relocation, transportation, and installation of stones at the original site; The entire process of designing, producing, transporting, and installing urban sculptures at the intersection of Yingbin Avenue.

At the same time, "the design of sculptures requires works of art created by renowned international and domestic sculptors, which can express the urban image of Lushan, reflect the urban style of Lushan, and showcase the excellent work of Lushan's future urban development image."

The announcement also clearly states that the sculpture, with a height of about 17 meters, adopts a combination of casting copper, forging, relief, and coloring to depict the new image of the city of Lushan culture and tourism.

Screenshot from China Government Procurement Network.

Is the construction time earlier than the bidding time?

It is worth noting that the bidding announcement for the sculpture was released on June 14, 2023, and the procurement method was open bidding. After the project review on July 6th this year, the winning bid announcement was released on the same day.

The aforementioned announcement shows that Ruize Art Co., Ltd. won the bid for the sculpture of Cowherd and Weaver Girl.

But according to Qilu Evening News, many local residents have reported that the foundation of the Cowherd and Weaver Girl began construction as early as June 15th before the project bid opening. On the Tiktok platform, a blogger released a video on June 23 that the foundation of the sculpture has started construction.

If the situation is true, then the construction time of the sculpture is earlier than the project bidding time. How did the company know that it would win the bid before the bidding was completed?

Revenue of over 20000 yuan,

Why have we won multiple bids for the Pingdingshan project?

The National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System shows that Ruize Art Co., Ltd., formerly known as Shenzhen Guodi Landscape Art Co., Ltd., was renamed to its current name in September 2022.

Screenshot taken from the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System.

The declaration letter for small and medium-sized enterprises attached to the bid announcement shows that Ruize Art Co., Ltd. has 45 employees, operating income of 2621300 yuan, and total assets of 7.0983 million yuan.

The small and medium-sized enterprise declaration letter attached to the bid announcement.

But it is this enterprise with a revenue of over 20000 yuan that has won multiple bids for the Pingdingshan City project. The reporter found on the Pingdingshan Municipal Government Procurement Network that this company has won 5 projects in Pingdingshan City, including 3 projects in Lushan County.

In addition to the highly anticipated Cowherd and Weaver Girl themed sculpture, in 2018, the company won the bid for the "Cheng Hao" sculpture, "Cheng Hao Lecture" sculpture, and "Ru Porcelain Burning Scene Reproduction" sculpture in Baofeng County, with a contract amount exceeding 4.23 million yuan. In 2019, the company won the bid for the Lushan Metallurgical Railway Scene Sculpture Project, with a winning amount of 1.6212 million yuan. In 2021, the company won the bid for the Shahe Landscape Sculpture in Lushan County, with a contract amount of 900000 yuan. In the same year, the company won the bid for the Ruzhou Beach Park Landscape Sculpture Project, with a winning amount of 929000 yuan.

Summary Table of Evaluation Committee Scores.

According to Henan media reports, it was not until February 2020 that Lushan County officially lifted itself out of poverty.

So, has this company won multiple bids before and is it compliant? In 2019, before Lushan County was lifted out of poverty, it spent millions of yuan bidding for a sculpture project. Is it compliant? These have also become issues of concern to netizens.

The winning company owner has multiple fake titles,

Is the reputation of the enterprise full marks?

According to the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System, Ruize Art Co., Ltd. was established in December 2011, with Ma Peiwen as the legal representative and a registered capital of 6 million RMB. The company is jointly owned by Ma Yunliang and Ma Peiwen, with Ma Yunliang holding 75% of the shares and being the actual controller of the company.

According to multiple media reports, Ma Yunliang participated in the design of the sculpture of the Cowherd and Weaver Girl.

In the entry of Baidu Baike, Ma Yunliang's identity is "art critic and curator". In addition, Ma Yunliang has multiple titles.

An article published on the "Investment in Linxia" WeChat official account in April this year mentioned that on March 28, Ma Yunliang, president of the China Academy of Urban Sculpture Construction, and his delegation went to Hezheng County to investigate the cultural tourism industry and agricultural product processing industry.

Ma's family is close.

The reporter from China News Finance and Economics also found that the contact person of the conference included Ma Yunliang in the "Invitation Letter for 2015 China Martha Family Congress and the Establishment of China Martha Family Association" released by the "Martha Family" WeChat official account. At that time, Ma Yunliang served as the Executive President of the China Association for the Promotion of Culture and Economy, and his contact number was also disclosed in the invitation letter. According to publicly available information from Tianyancha, the contact phone number is consistent with the enterprise contact phone number provided in Ruize Art's 2016 annual report.

However, a journalist from China News Finance and Economics found on the national social organization credit information disclosure platform that the China Urban Sculpture Construction Research Institute and the China Cultural and Economic Promotion Association have not been registered with the civil affairs department.

The screenshot is from the website of the National Social Organization Credit Information Publicity Platform.

In the attachment of the winning bid announcement, "Detailed score of each evaluation committee for each bidder's bidding documents", all 7 judges unanimously gave Ruize Art a full score of 3 points in the enterprise reputation column, while the other three participating companies all scored 0 points in this item.

Has the local government conducted effective background checks on enterprises during the bidding process? How can a company owner with multiple "copycat" titles get full marks from all judges in the corporate reputation rating?

Is there any "cooperation" between participating companies?

In addition, the aforementioned "Ma Zongqin Conference" also includes a contact person named Ma Suyun.

Ma's family is close.

Coincidentally, among the four companies participating in the bidding for the sculpture of Cowherd and Weaver Girl, the legal representative of Zhongdi Culture Holdings Co., Ltd. is also named Ma Suyun.

Are these two "Ma Suyun" the same person? If they are the same person, is there any "cooperation" between Zhongdi Culture and Ma Yunliang's Ruize Art in this bidding?

"If there is any relevant news, it will be released in a timely manner."

After the Lushan Cowherd and Weaver Girl sculpture incident escalated in the public opinion field, two investigation teams have been established in the local area.

Late at night on August 29, the official account of "Lushan Rongmei" reported that Lushan County had set up a joint investigation team. On the basis of the preliminary investigation, it was decided to remove Party Secretary and Director of the County Housing and Urban Rural Development Bureau who were directly responsible in accordance with the rules and disciplines, and to record a major demerit in government affairs for the improper speech of Li, a staff member of the County Housing and Urban Rural Development Bureau, and to conduct a comprehensive review of the project design, project cost, bidding process and other issues of social concern.

On August 31, the official account of "Pingdingshan Release" released a notice. With regard to the love themed sculpture of Niulang and Zhinv in Lushan County that the masses concerned, Pingdingshan Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government have set up a joint investigation team composed of housing construction, finance, audit, discipline inspection commission and other departments to carry out in-depth and comprehensive investigation and review, and the investigation results will be announced to the public in a timely manner.

Screenshot of "Pingdingshan Publishing" official account.

Previously, the well-known tour guide "Xiao Hei Zhuming" claimed to have received a "threatening email" for publicly speaking out about this matter. On September 1, the staff of "Xiao Hei Zhu Ming" confirmed to the reporter of Zhongxin Finance and Economics that the case had been reported to the police station. After the police accepted the case, it was estimated that the investigation would take some time. "Additionally, the Lushan County government stated that it was not their fault and apologized."

A journalist from Zhongxin Finance also called the Pingdingshan City Government Service Hotline, who said, "The relevant departments of Pingdingshan City have launched an investigation, but the progress has not been announced yet. If there is any relevant information, it will be released in a timely manner."

The reporter also dialed multiple contact numbers for Ruize Art and Zhongdi Culture, but none of them were connected.